Barbara Rittner: Alexander Zverev will need to stick to the rules in Berlin

The Head of Women's Tennis in Germany, Barbara Rittner has said Alexander Zverev will need to ensure that he abides by all rules if he plays the exhibition event scheduled in mid-July in Berlin.

The 47 year old Rittner was speaking to the ZDF magazine after a party video appeared a few days ago which featured Zverev, who is supposed to be in self-isolation after playing the Adria Tour where several players were infected with the COVID-19 virus. The date of the party is not known exactly and Zverev has not yet commented on this.

Barbara Rittner says Alexander Zverev will need to stick to the rules in Berlin

Rittner commented, "I am not responsible for whether Sascha Zverev should be punished for this. I think he is punishing himself with a loss of image, because this makes him unbelievable."

The German says she still hopes Zverev will play in Berlin but says he will need to stick to the rules. "We will not rule it out, but he will be tested again today and then go into isolation and exercise in peace, I hope. He has to stick to the rules with us. You won't see him with party pictures in Berlin. If he did that, we would exclude him."

Rittner says the tennis players need to behave more responsibly to ensure their actions do not compromise the upcoming tennis tournaments. "This causes everything to wobble, the tournaments are becoming more and more questionable now. And if we have positive cases, the whole construct will collapse."

The Berlin event will be an exhibition event which will be held from July 13th to July 15th and will feature six men and six women at the Steffi Graf Stadium in Berlin, in which 1000 spectators have been approved to attend the event. It will be followed by another exhibition event in the hangar on the Tempelhofer Feld from July 17 to 19, in which up to 220 visitors will be allowed.

Barbara Rittner is a retired tennis player from Germany. Her career-high singles ranking was No. 24 in the world in 1993. She is also the captain of the German Fed Cup team. Alexander Zverev has won 11 ATP titles in singles and two in doubles. He is a former World No. 3 and is currently ranked No. 7 in the world.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2YO9owf